Court Orders Government
to Ensure Pesticide Use Will Not Harm Endangered Salmon

This week's photo
story features Pacific Northwest salmon, recently awarded protection
from pesticides by a court order under the Endangered Species Act
(ESA). The U.S. Federal District Court in Seattle found the EPA has a
legal obligation under ESA to review the impacts of pesticide use and
curtail uses that are harmful to salmon. This process begins with a consultation
between EPA and the National Marine Fisheries Service, the expert U.S.
salmon agency.

"The announcement
represents a sweeping victory for both the people and the salmon in the
Pacific Northwest," said Earthjustice attorney Patti Goldman, who
represented environmental and commercial fishing organizations in the
case. "EPA had flouted its legal obligation to stop harmful pesticide
uses and the Court put an end to that disregard of the law."

Erika Schreder with
Washington Toxics Coalition added that "Pesticides in rivers have
been a time bomb for salmon for decades. This decision is a long-overdue
first step to defusing that threat and making rivers safe for salmon."

The court decision,
issued by Judge John Coughenour, called EPA's "wholesale non-compliance"
with its Endangered Species Act obligations "patently unlawful."

EPA's own documents
find that current uses for several dozen pesticides are likely to result
in surface water contamination levels that threaten fish or their habitat.
Additionally, water monitoring by the US Geological Survey detected fourteen
pesticides in salmon watersheds at concentrations at or above levels set
to protect fish and other aquatic life. Combined, the EPA's findings and
the US Geological Survey detections identified 55 pesticides that pose
documented threats to salmon.

The Court found that
"EPA's own reports document the potentially-significant risks posed
by registered pesticides to threatened and endangered salmonids and their
habitat" and that "it is undisputed that EPA has not initiated,
let alone completed, consultation with respect to the relevant 55 pesticide
active ingredients."

"It is refreshing
that the judge ordered EPA to finally take action on the overwhelming
evidence that pesticides harm salmon. The blatant disregard EPA has displayed
on this issue for over a decade is inexcusable," stated Pollyanna
Lind with the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides.